Football Full House Backfield

Full House Backfield

The full house backfield, often called the T formation, is an offensive formation in football that has three running backs lined up behind the quarterback forming the shape of a T. The running backs stand about five to seven yards behind the quarterback, making the bottom of the T. It is considered a full house because it is an overload of offensive players.

Oldest Football Formation

The full house backfield is said to be the oldest offensive formation, dating back to the late 1800s. Once the forward pass was permitted in games, this formation started to die out. However, it has made reappearances, but is much less common. In fact, almost all offensive formations have derived from the full house backfield formation. The Power T is a formation that includes two tight ends. The Pro T is a formation with one tight end and one wide receiver.

Benefits

The T formation allows the offensive players to span the field. It gives the quarterback three players behind him who won't be covered as quickly and the front line of offenders. The quarterback could make a run himself or pass it back to a fullback. It is a very powerful formation for running players. It also spreads the defenseout wide, leaving more lanes for the offensive players to make breaks down the field. With more lanes comes more scoring opportunities.